One of the mainstays of industrial metal has always been FEAR FACTORY. Though theyve been through some lineup changes, the current FF, Burton C. Bell, Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers have produced some of the bands best material yet in the album Archetype.
I got change to talk with FF drummer Raymond Herrera about the last tour, his other band Kush and where the anger has gone.
Check out Fear Factorys website
Daniel Robert Epstein: What inspired the latest album?
Raymond Herrera: Shit I dont know, the fact that we love to write music. The band had disbanded then gotten back together and we wanted to continue so here we are.
DRE: What does Archetype mean to you?
RH: That was Burt who came up with that. That was what we were originally going to call Digimortal. I think it is definitely more fitting on this record because this album takes it back to basics; fast and really extreme. All the other albums are prototypes in a sense.
DRE: What made you feel like you had to go back to basics?
RH: We just wanted to do something really heavy and really fast again. It had been awhile since we had done a record like that. Christian was into it and so was I so thats what we did. Its cool when we make all the decisions.
DRE: Christian said that a lot of the anger was gone for a while.
RH: I think everyone got really comfortable because for a while things were going really well. To a certain extent there has always been issues with the band like there is with every band such as business issues, political issues, new management issues and record label issues. Overall the band was doing well so we just kept making records. On this record we went through a lot of shit to be where we are today. I think Burt documented all of that really well in the lyrics on this album. In comparison we went through a lot of shit on this record compared to what we went through on any other album.
DRE: Do you sometimes not get along and that makes the arc of the band falter?
RH: I guess you could say that. But most of the problems we had were legal such as the deals that we signed when we were kids. They came back to haunt us 12 years later and turned into this big bowl of shit.
DRE: What was the Roadrunner deal?
RH: The freedom issue, the money issue and the fact that the band was broken but they didnt want to accept the breakup because we still had three more records with them. One thing led to another and we were in this hellzone for a while.
DRE: How tough was it working when you were forced to?
RH: No one likes to be told what to do. Even worse sometimes is being put in the corner where you have to do work. That brought up a lot of anger. It was really ugly for a while but we were able to turn something bad into something really good. The three of us are really happy with the record and so are a lot of the fans.
DRE: If Burton had left the band permanently would you guys have stayed together and still called yourself Fear Factory?
RH: No, we wouldnt be the band if Burt wasnt in it. That was one thing that Christian and I had said to each other. We were going to write songs but if Burt decides he doesnt want to do it then we will have to figure out a way to get out of the deal. At the end of the day we were going to do it with Burt or it wasnt going to happen at all.
DRE: How is it going with Byron Stroud?
RH: Its going good. He came in when we were mixing but still he was able to jump in. We did the one tour in Australia and it went really well.
DRE: Do you ever fight in front of Byron and he would back out of the room slowly?
RH: No there isnt any tension between the three of us. We get along really well.
DRE: Were you psyched about the Chimaira and Slipknot tour?
RH: Yeah it was badass. I like Chimaira and I love Slipknot.
DRE: Did you get a ton of Jagermeister?
RH: I dont drink or smoke at all.
DRE: What about the other guys?
RH: Yeah they drink and smoke [laughs].
DRE: Did you ever?
RH: The first and last time I ever drank was when I was 13. The first and last time I ever smoked I was 14. Weed is the only drug Ive ever done and I just did that for a couple of years.
DRE: What do you do for fun? Videogames?
RH: Aw dude, videogames all the time. Work with videogames! Everyone I know smokes so if I was against it I wouldnt have any friends.
DRE: How was shooting in the video in Australia?
RH: Yeah it was in Perth. It was killer.
DRE: Who was the director?
RH: Dale Resteghini. He had done a video for Hatebreed and Christian had seen it and thought he should do our video. Then like a week later the guy emails us. It was such a coincidence. When we went to master the director we met with Dale at some restaurant. The original idea was to do the video in New York because hes from there. When the whole idea to do it in Australia with a big window in middle of us playing I thought that was really cool. Weve never done a video in any other country than America. People in Perth had never had anything like us shooting in a video there.
DRE: Hows Kush going?
RH: Well put out a record eventually. We have a deal on the table but there are some issues with [Deftones guitarist] Stephen [Carpenter] doing an actual record. Well get it done in time. Luckily writing the music doesnt take up a lot of time.
DRE: Whats the writing process for Fear Factory?
RH: Christian and I get together and we just do it. It just works.
DRE: How long has it been since you all first got together?
RH: The first time we got together was October 31st 1990. I was like 17 when that happened. Its been great. I originally met Dino [Cazares] at a record store and he was roommates with Burt. Dino and I started writing some songs while we were jamming with other people. When we decided to work together it just worked. Once Burt joined the band it really became Fear Factory.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
I got change to talk with FF drummer Raymond Herrera about the last tour, his other band Kush and where the anger has gone.
Check out Fear Factorys website
Daniel Robert Epstein: What inspired the latest album?
Raymond Herrera: Shit I dont know, the fact that we love to write music. The band had disbanded then gotten back together and we wanted to continue so here we are.
DRE: What does Archetype mean to you?
RH: That was Burt who came up with that. That was what we were originally going to call Digimortal. I think it is definitely more fitting on this record because this album takes it back to basics; fast and really extreme. All the other albums are prototypes in a sense.
DRE: What made you feel like you had to go back to basics?
RH: We just wanted to do something really heavy and really fast again. It had been awhile since we had done a record like that. Christian was into it and so was I so thats what we did. Its cool when we make all the decisions.
DRE: Christian said that a lot of the anger was gone for a while.
RH: I think everyone got really comfortable because for a while things were going really well. To a certain extent there has always been issues with the band like there is with every band such as business issues, political issues, new management issues and record label issues. Overall the band was doing well so we just kept making records. On this record we went through a lot of shit to be where we are today. I think Burt documented all of that really well in the lyrics on this album. In comparison we went through a lot of shit on this record compared to what we went through on any other album.
DRE: Do you sometimes not get along and that makes the arc of the band falter?
RH: I guess you could say that. But most of the problems we had were legal such as the deals that we signed when we were kids. They came back to haunt us 12 years later and turned into this big bowl of shit.
DRE: What was the Roadrunner deal?
RH: The freedom issue, the money issue and the fact that the band was broken but they didnt want to accept the breakup because we still had three more records with them. One thing led to another and we were in this hellzone for a while.
DRE: How tough was it working when you were forced to?
RH: No one likes to be told what to do. Even worse sometimes is being put in the corner where you have to do work. That brought up a lot of anger. It was really ugly for a while but we were able to turn something bad into something really good. The three of us are really happy with the record and so are a lot of the fans.
DRE: If Burton had left the band permanently would you guys have stayed together and still called yourself Fear Factory?
RH: No, we wouldnt be the band if Burt wasnt in it. That was one thing that Christian and I had said to each other. We were going to write songs but if Burt decides he doesnt want to do it then we will have to figure out a way to get out of the deal. At the end of the day we were going to do it with Burt or it wasnt going to happen at all.
DRE: How is it going with Byron Stroud?
RH: Its going good. He came in when we were mixing but still he was able to jump in. We did the one tour in Australia and it went really well.
DRE: Do you ever fight in front of Byron and he would back out of the room slowly?
RH: No there isnt any tension between the three of us. We get along really well.
DRE: Were you psyched about the Chimaira and Slipknot tour?
RH: Yeah it was badass. I like Chimaira and I love Slipknot.
DRE: Did you get a ton of Jagermeister?
RH: I dont drink or smoke at all.
DRE: What about the other guys?
RH: Yeah they drink and smoke [laughs].
DRE: Did you ever?
RH: The first and last time I ever drank was when I was 13. The first and last time I ever smoked I was 14. Weed is the only drug Ive ever done and I just did that for a couple of years.
DRE: What do you do for fun? Videogames?
RH: Aw dude, videogames all the time. Work with videogames! Everyone I know smokes so if I was against it I wouldnt have any friends.
DRE: How was shooting in the video in Australia?
RH: Yeah it was in Perth. It was killer.
DRE: Who was the director?
RH: Dale Resteghini. He had done a video for Hatebreed and Christian had seen it and thought he should do our video. Then like a week later the guy emails us. It was such a coincidence. When we went to master the director we met with Dale at some restaurant. The original idea was to do the video in New York because hes from there. When the whole idea to do it in Australia with a big window in middle of us playing I thought that was really cool. Weve never done a video in any other country than America. People in Perth had never had anything like us shooting in a video there.
DRE: Hows Kush going?
RH: Well put out a record eventually. We have a deal on the table but there are some issues with [Deftones guitarist] Stephen [Carpenter] doing an actual record. Well get it done in time. Luckily writing the music doesnt take up a lot of time.
DRE: Whats the writing process for Fear Factory?
RH: Christian and I get together and we just do it. It just works.
DRE: How long has it been since you all first got together?
RH: The first time we got together was October 31st 1990. I was like 17 when that happened. Its been great. I originally met Dino [Cazares] at a record store and he was roommates with Burt. Dino and I started writing some songs while we were jamming with other people. When we decided to work together it just worked. Once Burt joined the band it really became Fear Factory.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
Corso said:
I once went to one of their shows. It sucked!
impossible!!!
so glad to see Fear Factory back! awesome stuff.